If you watch any of those shows on television about how to sell a home, then you already know the importance of home staging! It maximizes the appeal of your home with some simple fixes before you put it on the market. These improvements can range from adding a couple of new, colorful throw pillows to doing minor repairs such as oiling squeaky door hinges. It showcases your home at its most desirable and helps buyers imagine themselves living in it.
Photos courtesy of Premier Transitions.
“Once we put a home on the market, it’s a product,” says Maureen Campbell, a senior relocation specialist at Premier Transitions. “We need to get into the psychology of the buyers who walk in the door.”
Premier Transitions is a senior living relocation service that has partnered with The Knolls, a Westchester County Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), to help new residents make a seamless transition into a maintenance-free senior living lifestyle.
Relocation and real estate expert, Maureen Campbell, and her team, will help you overcome any obstacles you may encounter during your move. They will work with you, your real estate agent, move managers, and the team at The Knolls to coordinate every step. If you want to learn more about how you can take advantage of Premier Transitions when you move to The Knolls, you can contact us online here!
Staging Pays
Staging can help a house stand out from the competition in your neighborhood, and the investment in staging is always a lower cost than a first price reduction.
Let’s take this example from our senior relocation specialists, Premier Transitions: a buyer walks into a house and sees paint colors they’d like to cover. In the buyer’s mind, they will estimate the cost to be anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 and take this amount off the asking price. New paint would have only cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars (if you were to hire professional painters). Spending this cost up front to stage your home will make for a higher sale price, in addition to generously covering your staging costs.
In order to attract today’s buyers, you can use tried-and-true methods to make your house appeal to as many buyers as possible. You can choose to do a little or a lot, but in the end, your investment will help your home sell for more.
Here are the five top home staging tips:
1.) De-clutter
De-cluttering is the first thing you should do in your home staging process. Most of your de-cluttering will take place as you downsize anyway, such as packing away any personal photos and collections that you are currently displaying. De-cluttering and removing personal items will make spaces appear larger, and help buyers envision their own belongings in those spaces.
2.) Light and Bright
Focus on making your house light, bright, and spacious. This includes: removing oversized furniture and/ or substituting in smaller furniture; painting over any dark wood paneling; removing unnecessary objects; and cleaning every little nook and cranny. You can even install mirrors throughout your hallways and rooms to help reflect light and make spaces appear larger. Since today’s buyers prefer open spaces and layouts, making your home appear light and bright will have more appeal to them.
3.) Freshen Up and Fix It
Take the time to walk through each room in your house and make any minor fixes you can find, such as quieting squeaky doors, filling nicks and holes, installing new switch plates, touching up paint, swapping in high wattage light bulbs, and cleaning carpets and drapes. Pay special attention in the kitchen and bathrooms to: replace discolored grout; sanitize and deodorize drains; and clean fixtures.
4.) Rearrange
Rearrange your furniture to create open pathways and cozy living areas. The right furniture layout can give the appearance of more space and bring attention to any unique features in the house. You want the buyer to feel invited into the space and rearranging furniture to open up the room can be a successful way to do so.
5.) Ask for help
If you’re not sure where to start and want to invest in staging your home, consider hiring a professional home stager. They have the skills, knowledge and resources to showcase your house in the best possible way. They often have plenty of trendy furniture and home décor on hand that will fit your rooms perfectly, and appeal to a large number of buyers.
For more information on tips for home staging, or to learn more about the benefits program available to you when you move to The Knolls, give us a call today at 914-468-4728, or visit us online to request your personal tour.